Taha Asadi/ staff reporter
The first peoples principle of learning that speaks the most to me is “knowledge involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations”.
What this principle means to me is that what we know is very valuable and significant, not just for us but for others as well. We need to be careful when it comes to what is appropriate for us share with others and what is not appropriate. We need to realize that when an individual shares a story or an experience with us, we can’t just go around and let everybody know about it because they have trusted us with their story. It is incredibly important to ask permission if whether at all we can share their story or not. Because someone’s stories don’t belong to you. They have trusted you with them, they still belong to the individual who experienced them.
What others share with us is very valuable and sometimes it might not seem like that to us, but our view is irrelevant. What matters to them is significant. Our knowledge and what we learn especially, stories that others have trusted us to keep, is as valuable as a diamond. Just like a diamond, if you have one you are not going to walk around the city showing it to everyone. There’s a reason why humans keep diamonds and their valuable assets in a safe. For it to be safe, for it to be away from people that they don’t trust. Because it is their diamond, and they don’t want others to take it as their own and chose to do whatever they want with it. Just like their secrets and the information they don’t want to be shared with people they do not trust.
This lesson personally means a lot to me because I have had peers that I trusted with my valuable information but unfortunately, they did not respect my trust, my privacy, and shared my secrets with others who I did not give permission to. That is why I believe this principle of learning is so important because don’t we just hate it when other people share your personal stories that you have trusted them with without asking your permission. That is why asking permission when it comes to sharing someone’s sacred knowledge is incredibly significant.
I remember a friend of mine who had made a huge mistake in life many years ago. He shared his story with one of his close friends. He expected his so-called friend not to share his sacred story with others. Unfortunately, after a fight they had, his friend who he had trusted with his secret, shared this important information online. It is safe to say this friend’s life would never be the same again. His secret was shared with all of our peers, I had never have seen someone this broken in my life. Couple months later, this individual left our school. I would never see him again, but his story made me realize to never share someone else’s sacred information without their permission. This is why I’ve made such a strong connection with this principle of learning.
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